Automated component sourcing based on process systems design

ABSTRACT

The technology disclosed herein enables automation of component sourcing when designing a process system in an industrial environment. In a particular embodiment, a method includes receiving design specifications of a process system in an industrial environment via a system design application. The method further includes determining components to implement the process system from the design specifications and identifying a first subset of the components for sourcing from an external provider. The method also includes populating the first subset into a component sourcing application.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Process systems in industrial environments are made up of variouscomponents that work together to achieve an end result for a process.For example, a process system may be at least partially automated andconfigured to manufacture a product or a component of a product,although other types of process systems exist. To achieve a desired endresult for a particular process system, a designer of the process systemdetermines which components, and possibly a number of those components,should be used to implement the process system. The components mayinclude motors, nozzles, belts, mechanical arms, gear boxes, computerimplemented control systems, or any other type of component that may beuseful for performing a process in an industrial environment. Thosecomponents are installed in the industrial environment to implement thedesigned process system.

Computer software programs now exist to assist a process system designerwhen they are designing a process system. For example, a process systemdesign application may provide a “canvas” representing an area of afacility and allow a designer to easily place, move, remove, etc.various components on that canvas. The application may further provideadditional features meant to assist the designer. For example, theapplication may allow the designer to connect, or attempt to connect,two placed components together and then indicate to the designer whetherthe two components are compatible. While the application may assist thedesigner when designing the process system, the designer, or other usertasked with implementing the designed process system, must then obtainand install the components specified by the design.

Overview

The technology disclosed herein enables automation of component sourcingwhen designing a process system in an industrial environment. In aparticular embodiment, a method includes receiving design specificationsof a process system in an industrial environment via a system designapplication. The method further includes determining components toimplement the process system from the design specifications andidentifying a first subset of the components for sourcing from anexternal provider. The method also includes populating the first subsetinto a component sourcing application.

In some embodiments, the method includes determining a second subset ofthe components that comprise components with configurable options andpopulating the second subset into a system configuration application. Inthose embodiments, the method may include presenting, via a systemmanagement platform, a dashboard view associated with the process systemand, in the dashboard view, providing a user with options to execute thesystem design application, the system configuration application, and acomponent sourcing application.

In some embodiments, the design specifications are included in a firstfile accessible by the system design application and populating thefirst subset into the component sourcing application includes storinginformation about the first subset into a second file accessible by thecomponent sourcing application.

In some embodiments, the design specifications are included in a firstfile accessible by the system design application and populating thefirst subset into the component sourcing application includes, in asystem management platform, accessing the first file and translatinginformation about the first subset in the design specifications to asecond file accessible by the component sourcing application.

In some embodiments, the design specifications are included in a firstfile accessible by the system design application and the componentsourcing application and populating the first subset into the componentsourcing application includes, in the component sourcing application,obtaining first information about the first subset from the first fileand adding second information about the first subset to the first file.In those embodiments, the first file may be accessible by a systemconfiguration application, and the method may further include, in thesystem configuration application, obtaining third information about asecond subset of the components that comprise components withconfigurable options and adding fourth information about the secondsubset to the first file. Also, in those embodiments, the first filebeing accessible by the system design application, the componentsourcing application, and the system configuration application mayinclude, in a system management platform, translating information in afirst format of the first file to respective second formats understoodby the system design application, the component sourcing application,and the system configuration application. Further in those embodiments,the method may include, after adding the second information, the systemdesign application accessing the first file and ignoring the secondinformation.

In some embodiments, identifying the first subset includes identifying afifth subset of the components that do not need to be sourced andincluding components other than the fifth subset in the first subset.

In another embodiment, an apparatus is provided having one or morecomputer readable storage media and a processing system operativelycoupled with the one or more computer readable storage media. Programinstructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media,when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processingsystem to receive design specifications of a process system in anindustrial environment via a system design application. The programinstructions further direct the processing system to determinecomponents to implement the process system from the designspecifications and identify a first subset of the components forsourcing from an external provider. The program instructions also directthe processing system to populate the first subset into a componentsourcing application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an industrial environment for automating componentsourcing based on the design of a process system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an operation for automating component sourcing basedon the design of a process system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational scenario for automating componentsourcing based on the design of a process system.

FIG. 4 illustrates an operational scenario for automating componentsourcing based on the design of a process system.

FIG. 5 illustrates an operational scenario for automating componentsourcing based on the design of a process system.

FIG. 6 illustrates an industrial environment dashboard for automatingcomponent sourcing based on the design of a process system.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computing architecture for automatingcomponent sourcing based on the design of a process system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Once a process system has been designed for an industrial environment,the components specified in the design of that process system need to beobtained to implement the process system. The components may be obtainedfrom a source external to the industrial environment, such as amanufacturer/supplier of the respective components or some other thirdparty, or the components may be obtained from an inventory internal tothe industrial environment. Components may be in the inventory of theindustrial environment because they were already obtained from anoutside source for other purposes, such as replacement components foranother process system, components that were originally intended for adifferent process system, or are found in the inventory for some otherreason—including combinations thereof. It is typically more costeffective and efficient for the industrial environment to use componentsalready in inventory rather than having to source the components from athird party.

The examples described below automatically determine whether one or morecomponents for a designed process system are already located in aninventory for an industrial environment. Components that are determinedto already be located in the inventory likely do not need to be sourcedfrom outside the industrial environment (e.g., from amanufacturer/supplier). Components that are not already located in theinventory are automatically added to a sourcing application that atleast tracks components that need to be sourced from a third party(e.g., manufacturer/supplier). The sourcing application may further beconfigured to order the components tracked therein either automaticallyor upon receiving an instruction to do so from a user. Regardless,rather than relying on a user to perform an inventory search to morecost effectively and/or efficiently implement a designed process system,the examples herein automatically check with the inventory beforepopulating components for sourcing into a sourcing application.

FIG. 1 illustrates industrial environment 100 for automating inventorymanagement based on the design of a process system. Industrialenvironment 100 includes process management system 101 and inventorysystem 108. As described below, process management system 101 performsoperation 200 to automatically populate a component sourcing applicationwith components that are not available in an inventory of industrialenvironment 100 to implement process system 107, which is defined byprocess design specifications 122. Process management system 101 andinventory system 108 communicate over communication link 111.Communication link 111 may be a direct wired or wireless link or mayinclude intervening systems, networks, and/or devices. While shown asseparate elements, process management system 101 and inventory system108 may be combined into a single system or device. Likewise, whileshown as individual devices, either or both of process management system101 and inventory system 108 may be distributed across multiple devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates operation 200 for automating inventory managementbased on the design of a process system. During operation 200, processmanagement system 101 receives process design specifications 122 forprocess system 107 via a system design application (201). The systemdesign application may be executing on process management system 101 ormay be executing on a user system, such as a personal computerworkstation, laptop, tablet, or smartphone of user 141. Processmanagement system 101 may receive process design specifications 122 viauser input received directly from user 141 into a user interface ofprocess management system 101 or may receive process designspecifications 122 over a communication link with a user system of user141. In some examples, the system design application may be anapplication configured to automatically design a process system uponreceiving parameters (e.g., a desired result from various inputmaterials) for the system from user 141.

In this example, process system 107 that is specified by process designspecifications 122 includes five components 102-106. Other examples mayinclude more or fewer components than those of process system 107.Process design specifications 122 may be received once the design ofprocess system 107 is completed or may be received in stages (e.g., eachtime a new component is added to process system 107 via the systemdesign application). In examples of the latter, each stage of processdesign specifications 122 may trigger the performance of the remainingsteps of operation 200 for the received stage rather than processmanagement system 101 waiting until completed process designspecifications 122 are received.

From process design specifications 122, process management system 101determines components therein to implement process system 107 (202). Inthis example, process management system 101 determines that components102-106 are specified in process design specifications 122. In thisexample, components 102-106 are components of process system 107 thatcan be sourced from a third party (e.g., offered for purchase by amanufacturer/supplier), specifically those that can be sourced using acomponent sourcing application described herein. Though not shown,process system 107 may include other components that cannot be sourced(e.g., may be proprietary for the industrial environment). In oneexample, process management system 101 may be able to assume that allcomponents specified in process design specifications 122 are those thatcan be sourced. In another example, process management system 101 mayidentify components 102-106 by determining that components 102-106 arespecified in process design specifications 122 based on a uniqueidentifier for each respective one of components 102-106 (e.g., thecomponents' respective part numbers and, if necessary, manufacturers).In some examples, certain ones of components 102-106 may not beexplicitly included in process design specifications 122 and processmanagement system 101 may infer such a component. For instance, processmanagement system 101 may determine that component 103 needs a mount forimplementation in process system 107 and identifies component 104 asbeing that mount. Other manners of determining components 102-106 mayalso be used.

From components 102-106, process management system 101 identifies asubset of the components for sourcing from a provider external toindustrial environment 100 (203). The external provider may be athird-party manufacturer or supplier of respective ones of components102-106. In one example, process management system 101 queries inventorysystem 108 for information about whether any of components 102-106 arein an inventory of industrial environment 100. Inventory system 108tracks the inventory status of components in industrial environment 100(e.g., receives inventory information from one or more users,automatically updates inventory information from shipping receipts, orobtains inventory information updates in some other manner). Forexample, inventory system 108 may store and maintain a database thatlists a number of individual components that are available in industrialenvironment 100 (e.g., that there are 4 components of particular partnumber in inventory). Inventory system 108 may further track a locationof the components in inventory, such as a facility (e.g., factorybuilding) or room in the facility where each component is located. Basedon the inventory information provided by inventory system 108, processmanagement system 101 may determine which of components 102-106 shouldbe included in the subset. In some examples, process management system101 determines that a component located in inventory does not need to besources because the component can be taken from inventory. In otherexamples, additional criteria may need to be met in order to include acomponent in the subset. For example, there may be three of component104 in inventory but at least three, or some other threshold number inother examples, may be required as spares before ordering more. In thatexample, process management system 101 would still determine to includecomponent 104 in the subset to not reduce the amount of component 104 ininventory below three. Similarly, another criterion may indicate that aninventory component may need to be located within a certain distance ofwhere process system 107 will be implemented. In those examples, if aninventory component is located at a facility that is too far away, thenthe component will be included in the subset. Other criteria definingwhether an inventory component should be used rather than sourcing acomponent from an external provider may also be used.

Process management system 101 then populates the identified subset intoa component sourcing application (204). For instance, if processmanagement system 101 determined that component 102, component 103, andcomponent 105 are in the subset, then process management system 101passes information describing component 102, component 103, andcomponent 105 to the component sourcing application so that component102, component 103, and component 105 are populated therein. In someexamples, the component sourcing application is executing on processmanagement system 101 while, in other examples, the component sourcingapplication is executing on another computing system in communicationwith process management system 101, such as a user system operated byuser 141. The component sourcing application may supply an ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) that process management system 101 uses topass information defining the subset to the component sourcingapplication for population therein. In another example, processmanagement system 101 may store information identifying the componentsin the subset to a file accessible by the component sourcing application(e.g., in a format defined by the component sourcing application or someother type of format that the component sourcing application is capableof accessing). The component sourcing application may then read thecomponent information from the file. Other manners of passinginformation between computer software elements may also be used. Oncethe subset has been populated into the component sourcing application,the component sourcing application may be operated by user 141 topresent user 141 with the subset of components 102-106 that should besourced and may be able to initiate the sourcing of at least a portionof those components (e.g., may be able to communicate with an orderingsystem operated by a manufacturer/supplier to order the components).

In some examples, operation 200 may stop once the subset of thecomponents has been populated in the component sourcing application. Inother examples, process management system 101 may also determine asecond subset of components 102-106 that includes components withconfigurable options (205). Components that have configurable optionscomprise components with computing circuitry that control physicaloperation of at least a portion of process system 107. That computingcircuitry can be configured to operate to achieve the desired output ofprocess system 107. For example, a control system component for amechanical grab arm may have options that configure how much pressureshould be used to grab an item, how fast the item should be moved, wherethe item should be placed, or some other type option that corresponds toa variable parameter of the arm. Other types of components will haveother types of options available to them.

A system configuration application is used in this example to define thedesired options for operation of process system 107. Process managementsystem 101 populates the second subset into the system configurationapplication (206). The system configuration application may know theoptions for components of process system 107 that are in the secondsubset or may query another system to obtain the options. For example,if the second subset includes component 106, the system configurationapplication may obtain the configuration options so that the options maybe provided to user 141. In some cases, default settings for the optionsmay be used while, in other examples, user 141 may be required to supplyone or more of the desired option settings. The second subset may bepopulated into the process management application one of the mannersdescribed above with respect to populating the component sourcingapplication. Also like the component sourcing application, the systemconfiguration application may be executing on process management system101 or the component sourcing application may be executing on anothercomputing system in communication with process management system 101,such as a user system operated by user 141. Once populated in the systemconfiguration application, the system configuration application allowsthe user to provide input defining the configuration options for eachcomponent. When process system 107 is installed, the configurationoptions may be supplied to the components of process system 107 beforeprocess system 107 begins operation.

FIG. 3 illustrates operational scenario 300 for automating inventorymanagement based on the design of a process system. Operational scenario300 includes process management system 301, which may be an example ofprocess management system 101. In this example, process managementsystem 301 populates component information into component sourcingapplication 322 by translating between files used by system designapplication 321 and component sourcing application 322, respectively. Inparticular, process management system 301 at step 1 identifiescomponents of a process system that is specified in system design file331. System design file 331 may be stored on process management system301, either based on system design file 331 being originally created onprocess management system 301 (e.g., process management system 301 maybe executing system design application 321) or based on processmanagement system 301 receiving system design file 331 in some othermanner (e.g., over a communication network from a system executingsystem design application 321 or from a file storage system). Systemdesign file 331 is in a format that is accessible by system designapplication 321 and process management system 301. Process managementsystem 301 reads the information within system design file 331 todetermine which components are specified therein.

After identifying the specified components, process management system301 queries inventory system 308 at step 2 to determine whether any ofthe components can be sourced from inventory rather than being sourcedfrom an external provider at step 3. Inventory system 308 providesinventory information about the components from system design file 331to process management system 301 so that process management system 301can apply criteria to the inventory information to determine whether anyof the components should be sourced from an external provider. As notedabove, process management system 301 may consider inventory amounts,component locations, or other type of criteria to determine whether aparticular component, even if in inventory, should still be sourced froman external provider.

After identifying components that should be sourced from an externalprovider, process management system 301 at step 4 translates informationidentifying those components in system design file 331 to informationidentifying those components in component sourcing file 332. Thetranslation in this example includes process management system 301reformatting information identifying the components for externalsourcing into component sourcing file 332. Component sourcing file 332is in a format that is accessible by component sourcing application 322and process management system 301. In addition to the format of systemdesign file 331 and component sourcing file 332 being different, theinformation therein may need to be expressed differently. For instance,system design file 331 may require component part number andmanufacturer information, if so included, to be in a different orderthan in component sourcing file 332. In another example, two of the samecomponents may be represented individually in system design file 331 butmerely need to be identified as being two of a particular component incomponent sourcing file 332. More complex translations may also beperformed. In some examples, process management system 301 may createcomponent sourcing file 332 before populating information into componentsourcing file 332. In other examples, component sourcing application 322may create component sourcing file 332 before process management system301 accesses component sourcing file 332 to populate the componentinformation therein. The component information may identify a particularcomponent and identify how many of the components should be sourced froman external provider. Once the component information is populated intocomponent sourcing file 332, component sourcing application 322 is ableto access component sourcing file 332 to perform various sourcingrelated functions based on the components identified therein (e.g.,identify a supplier with the lowest cost for a particular component).Like system design application 321, component sourcing application 322may be executing on process management system 301 or may be executing onsome other system with access to component sourcing file 332.

FIG. 4 illustrates operational scenario 400 for automating inventorymanagement based on the design of a process system. Operational scenario400 may occur independently of operational scenario 300 or may occuralong with operational scenario 300. Like in operational scenario 300,in operational scenario 400, process management system 301 at step 1identifies components of a process system that is specified in systemdesign file 331. Since step 1 is the same for both operational scenario300 and operational scenario 400, step 1 may only need to be performedonce if both operational scenario 300 and operational scenario 400occur.

After identifying the components of the process system, processmanagement system 301 identifies components for which configurationoptions can be set using system configuration application 423 at step 2.Process management system 301 may query system configuration application423, query one or more of the components (i.e., if they are alreadyoperating in some capacity within the industrial environment and incommunication with process management system 301), query a manufacturersystem operated by a manufacturer of one or more components, orotherwise obtain information that indicates which components systemconfiguration application 423 is capable of configuring.

Regardless of how the components identified, process management system301 at step 3 translates information identifying those components insystem design file 331 to information identifying those components inconfiguration file 433. The translation in this example includes processmanagement system 301 reformatting information identifying thecomponents for system configuration application 423 into configurationfile 433. Configuration file 433 is in a format that is accessible bysystem configuration application 423 and process management system 301.In addition to the format of system design file 331 and configurationfile 433 being different, the information therein may need to beexpressed differently. In some examples, process management system 301may create configuration file 433 before populating information intoconfiguration file 433. In other examples, system configurationapplication 423 may create configuration file 433 before processmanagement system 301 accesses configuration file 433 to populate thecomponent information therein. The component information may identify aparticular component and may provide additional context about thecomponent with respect to the process system design specified in systemdesign file 331. Once the component information is populated intoconfiguration file 433, system configuration application 423 is able toaccess configuration file 433 to perform functions that allow a user toconfigure the options for the components identified therein. Like systemdesign application 321, system configuration application 423 may beexecuting on process management system 301 or may be executing on someother system with access to configuration file 433.

FIG. 5 illustrates operational scenario 500 for automating inventorymanagement based on the design of a process system. In operationalscenario 500, process management system 501 defines a common file formatthat is accessible by system design application 521, component sourcingapplication 522, and system configuration application 523. Processsystem file 531 is an example of a file in the common file format. Thecommon file format is defined such that process system file 531 mayinclude any type of information that system design application 521,component sourcing application 522, and system configuration application523 would require in their own proprietary file formats. Each of systemdesign application 521, component sourcing application 522, and systemconfiguration application 523 may be configured to access process systemfile 531 directly or process management system 501 may translate theinformation in process system file 531 such that the information appearsto be stored in a respective file format that can be accessed by systemdesign application 521, component sourcing application 522, and systemconfiguration application 523 (e.g., each application's own proprietaryfile format).

Operational scenario 500 begins similarly to operational scenario 300and operational scenario 400, with process management system 501identifying at step 1 components specified for a process system designusing system design application 521. The specifications for the processsystem are stored in process system file 531 that process managementsystem 301 reads to identify the components in the process system.Process management system 301 then queries inventory system 508 at step2 for inventory information about the specified components. From theinventory information, process management system 301 identifies at step3 a first subset of the specified components that are not available forsourcing from inventory and a second subset of the components that aresubject to the configuration capabilities of system configurationapplication 523. In some examples, component sourcing application 522and system configuration application 523 may themselves perform theidentification of their respective subsets by accessing the designspecifications from process system file 531.

Information about the components is added to process system file 531 atstep 4. In this example, since the components themselves are alreadydefined in process system file 531 as part of the process system designspecification, process management system 501 may simply indicate inprocess system file 531 (e.g., set respective flags) which of thecomponents in the design specification are applicable to componentsourcing application 522 and/or system configuration application 523.Alternatively, process management system 501 may store information aboutthe respective subsets in different portions of system design file 331.Other manners of storing information in process system file 531 may alsobe used. Process management system 501 allows component sourcingapplication 522 and system configuration application 523 at step 5 toaccess process system file 531 for performing component sourcingapplication 522 and system configuration application 523's respectivefunctions. Component sourcing application 522 and system configurationapplication 523 may modify the information in process system file 531.For example, if component sourcing application 522 orders the subset ofthe components that were identified as needing to be sourced from anexternal provider, then component sourcing application 522 may updateinformation in component sourcing application 522 indicating that thesubset of the components have been ordered along with other usefulinformation, such as an order confirmation number for each component.Similarly, system configuration application 523 may store theconfigurable options selected by a user in process system file 531 sothat they can be referenced later. As noted above, the informationstored in process system file 531 by component sourcing application 522and system configuration application 523 may be any information thatcomponent sourcing application 522 and system configuration application523 would store in respective proprietary files, although theinformation may be stored in a different manner within process systemfile 531.

Since system design application 521, component sourcing application 522,and system configuration application 523 all have access to processsystem file 531, changes made to process system file 531 may affect theother applications when they access process system file 531. Forexample, adding a component to the design specification using systemdesign application 521 may result in another component needing to besourced using component sourcing application 522 and/or anothercomponent to be configured using system configuration application 523.

FIG. 6 illustrates industrial environment dashboard 600 for automatinginventory management based on the design of a process system. Industrialenvironment dashboard 600 may be presented as a graphical user interfaceinto a system management software platform that executes on a processmanagement system to perform in accordance with the examples above.Industrial environment dashboard 600 is associated with the example GoodWidget Manufacturing Company and may, therefore, be operated by anemployee thereof or contractor thereto. In this example, industrialenvironment dashboard 600 displays a tab corresponding to process system601, a tab corresponding to process system 602, a tab corresponding toprocess system 603, and a tab corresponding to process system 604. Thetab corresponding to process system 603 is currently selected and thattab's contents are shown in the foreground of the view presented byindustrial environment dashboard 600. Specifically, buttons allowing auser to launch system design application 621, component sourcingapplication 622, and system configuration application 623 are displayedin the foreground of industrial environment dashboard 600.

In this example, a common file format like that used in operationalscenario 500 is used by system design application 621, componentsourcing application 622, and system configuration application 623 whenlaunched from their respective buttons in the tab corresponding toprocess system 603. Specifically, process system file 631 is accessed bysystem design application 621, component sourcing application 622, andsystem configuration application 623 to perform their various functionswith respect to process system 603. If the user were to select one ofthe other tabs, such as the tab corresponding to process system 601,then the user may be presented with similar buttons to launch systemdesign application 621, component sourcing application 622, and systemconfiguration application 623 to access information in a process filefor process system 601 instead of process system file 631.

It should be understood that industrial environment dashboard 600 isonly one example of a user interface into the process management systemsdescribed above. In some examples, industrial environment dashboard 600may be part of an overarching software platform for managing processsystems in an industrial environment. In some examples, the software maybe displayed by a user interface of the process management system or bya user interface of a user system in communication with the processmanagement system. In the latter example, the user system may displayindustrial environment dashboard 600 as part of a web browser-basedinterface (e.g., website or web app) to the process management system,as part of a user interface for an application executing on the usersystem that communicates with the process management system, ordisplayed in some other manner.

FIG. 7 illustrates computing architecture 700 for automating inventorymanagement based on the design of a process system. Computingarchitecture 700 is representative of any computing system or systemswith which the various operational architectures, processes, scenarios,and sequences disclosed herein may be implemented. Computingarchitecture 700 is an example computing architecture for processmanagement system 101, process management system 301, and processmanagement system 501, although alternative configurations may also beused. Computing architecture 700 comprises communication interface 701,user interface 702, and processing system 703. Processing system 703 islinked to communication interface 701 and user interface 702. Processingsystem 703 includes processing circuitry 705 and memory device 706 thatstores operating software 707.

Communication interface 701 comprises components that communicate overcommunication links, such as network cards, ports, RF transceivers,processing circuitry and software, or some other communication devices.Communication interface 701 may be configured to communicate overmetallic, wireless, or optical links. Communication interface 701 may beconfigured to use TDM, IP, Ethernet, optical networking, wirelessprotocols, communication signaling, or some other communicationformat—including combinations thereof.

User interface 702 comprises components that interact with a user. Userinterface 702 may include a keyboard, display screen, mouse, touch pad,or some other user input/output apparatus. User interface 702 may beomitted in some examples.

Processing circuitry 705 comprises processing circuitry, such as amicroprocessor, and other circuitry that retrieves and executesoperating software 707 from memory device 706. Memory device 706comprises one or more computer readable storage media, such as a diskdrive, flash drive, data storage circuitry, or some other memoryapparatus that in no cases should be considered a mere propagatedsignal. Operating software 707 comprises computer programs, firmware, orsome other form of machine-readable processing instructions. Operatingsoftware 707 includes component identification module 708 and subsetidentification module 709. Operating software 707 may further include anoperating system, utilities, drivers, network interfaces, applications,or some other type of software. When executed by circuitry 705,operating software 707 directs processing system 703 to operatecomputing architecture 700 as described herein.

In particular, component identification module 708 directs processingsystem 703 to receive design specifications of the process system via asystem design application and determine components to implement theprocess system from the design specifications. Subset identificationmodel 709 directs processing system 703 to identify a first subset ofthe components for sourcing from an external provider and populate thefirst subset into a component sourcing application.

The descriptions and figures included herein depict specificimplementations of the claimed invention(s). For the purpose of teachinginventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified oromitted. In addition, some variations from these implementations may beappreciated that fall within the scope of the invention. It may also beappreciated that the features described above can be combined in variousways to form multiple implementations. As a result, the invention is notlimited to the specific implementations described above, but only by theclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for automating component sourcing, themethod comprising: receiving design specifications of a process systemin an industrial environment via a system design application;determining components to implement the process system from the designspecifications; identifying a first subset of the components forsourcing from an external provider; and populating the first subset intoa component sourcing application.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a second subset of the components that comprisecomponents with configurable options; and populating the second subsetinto a system configuration application.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: presenting, via a system management platform, adashboard view associated with the process system; in the dashboardview, providing a user with options to execute the system designapplication, the system configuration application, and a componentsourcing application.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the designspecifications are included in a first file accessible by the systemdesign application and wherein populating the first subset into thecomponent sourcing application comprises: storing information about thefirst subset into a second file accessible by the component sourcingapplication.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the design specificationsare included in a first file accessible by the system design applicationand wherein populating the first subset into the component sourcingapplication comprises: in a system management platform, accessing thefirst file and translating information about the first subset in thedesign specifications to a second file accessible by the componentsourcing application.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the designspecifications are included in a first file accessible by the systemdesign application and the component sourcing application and whereinpopulating the first subset into the component sourcing applicationcomprises: in the component sourcing application, obtaining firstinformation about the first subset from the first file and adding secondinformation about the first subset to the first file.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the first file is accessible by a system configurationapplication, and the method further comprising: in the systemconfiguration application, obtaining third information about a secondsubset of the components that comprise components with configurableoptions and adding fourth information about the second subset to thefirst file.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first file beingaccessible by the system design application, the component sourcingapplication, and the system configuration application comprises: in asystem management platform, translating information in a first format ofthe first file to respective second formats understood by the systemdesign application, the component sourcing application, and the systemconfiguration application.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:after adding the second information, the system design applicationaccessing the first file and ignoring the second information.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein identifying the first subset comprises:identifying a fifth subset of the components that do not need to besourced; and including components other than the fifth subset in thefirst subset.
 11. An apparatus for automating component sourcing, theapparatus comprising: one or more computer readable storage media; aprocessing system operatively coupled with the one or more computerreadable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one ormore computer readable storage media that, when read and executed by theprocessing system, direct the processing system to: receive designspecifications of a process system in an industrial environment via asystem design application; determine components to implement the processsystem from the design specifications; identify a first subset of thecomponents for sourcing from an external provider; and populate thefirst subset into a component sourcing application.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the program instructions further direct the processingsystem to: determine a second subset of the components that comprisecomponents with configurable options; and populate the second subsetinto a system configuration application.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the program instructions further direct the processing systemto: present, via a system management platform, a dashboard viewassociated with the process system; in the dashboard view, provide auser with options to execute the system design application, the systemconfiguration application, and a component sourcing application.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the design specifications are included ina first file accessible by the system design application and wherein topopulate the first subset into the component sourcing application, theprogram instructions direct the processing system to: store informationabout the first subset into a second file accessible by the componentsourcing application.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the designspecifications are included in a first file accessible by the systemdesign application and to populate the first subset into the componentsourcing application, the program instructions direct the processingsystem to: in a system management platform, access the first file andtranslate information about the first subset in the designspecifications to a second file accessible by the component sourcingapplication.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the designspecifications are included in a first file accessible by the systemdesign application and the component sourcing application and wherein topopulate the first subset into the component sourcing application, theprogram instructions direct the processing system to: in the componentsourcing application, obtain first information about the first subsetfrom the first file and add second information about the first subset tothe first file.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first file isaccessible by a system configuration application, and the programinstructions further direct the processing system to: in the systemconfiguration application, obtain third information about a secondsubset of the components that comprise components with configurableoptions and add fourth information about the second subset to the firstfile.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein for the first file to beaccessible by the system design application, the component sourcingapplication, and the system configuration application, the programinstructions direct the processing system to: in a system managementplatform, translate information in a first format of the first file torespective second formats understood by the system design application,the component sourcing application, and the system configurationapplication.
 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein, after the secondinformation is added, the system design application accesses the firstfile and ignores the second information.
 20. One or more computerreadable storage media having program instructions stored thereon forautomating component sourcing, the program instructions, when read andexecuted by a processing system, direct the processing system to:receive design specifications of a process system in an industrialenvironment via a system design application; determine components toimplement the process system from the design specifications; identify afirst subset of the components for sourcing from an external provider;and populate the first subset into a component sourcing application.